COD4 Multiplayer Weapons Guide

For PC
Version 1.0
By Alexander Young (aka Calder)
e-mail: calder87@gmail.com
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Do not copy in part or in full for reproduction on the internet without my
permission!
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1. Introduction

I noticed the other day that GameFAQs had no comprehensive guide to the
multiplayer features of Call of Duty 4. Being the sort of person who likes to
categorize weapons and the like, I decided to make this guide. Note that this
is NOT a guide to maps or game mode strategies. Experience is the best solution
for both, in my opinion. This is also not a guide to the rank-up levels or
challenges in the game; other guides list that information, and the game will
tell you all you need to know about when challenges will be unlocked/fulfilled
and what to do to unlock/fulfill them.

A word on how to read the weapon stats: in the custom class screen, accuracy
(how close the shot will go compared to where you aim), damage, range (how far
the bullet can go and damage a target), fire rate, and mobility (how fast you
move) are listed as bars on the screen. I converted those bars into number
rankings out of 12. The bar values don’t always perfectly correspond to
increments of 1/12, so some rankings will have a + indicating that the bar is
slightly fuller than normal. So, a damage rank of 9+ is slightly higher than 9
but less than 10.

I recorded clip sizes and reserve ammo myself, and used a stopwatch to estimate
the reload times for the weapons. I judged recoil by playing alone on the Crash
map and firing a whole clip of each weapon into a wall at medium distance,
checking the bullet hole grouping afterwards.

Note: All grenades do a small amount of damage to enemies if they hit before
exploding, just as if you had thrown a rock at your opponent. You can use this
to kill wounded opponents and fulfill some of the Humiliation challenges
unlocked at ranks 47 and 48! It’s also really funny, so try it if the
opportunity arises.
———-
Frag Grenades: When you press the grenade key (G or whatever), you’ll lob a
grenade with a 5-second fuse on it. Unless you want to flush enemies out of
hiding or get the nade lobbed back at you, this isn’t a good idea. Instead,
hold the key down. Your crosshairs will start pulsing, and the grenade will
explode at the fifth pulse. For best results, lob the grenade at your opponent
at the third or fourth pulse (fourth if they’re close) and they won’t have time
to react. You can throw any frag grenade you’re standing on by hitting the
grenade key. This takes a second or two, so unless you have no other choice,
run instead of going for the throw. Also, you can kill yourself by throwing a
friend’s grenade even if friendly fire is off.
———-
Flashbang Grenades: Detonates 1 second after you throw it; cannot be cooked.
Sets off a loud bang and a bright flash about two seconds after it is thrown,
blinding anyone facing it (including you but not your teammates if FF is off)
for several seconds. Blinded players can still move and fire freely, so be
careful of wild fire when you flash and enter an area.

Knoah reports that flash grenades do not report a damage tick if they blind
someone, unlike the stun grenade.
———-
Stun Grenades: Arms one second after being thrown, cannot be cooked. Once
armed, it detonates on impact with the ground. Momentarily blinds and mildly
damages those in its radius and slows their motion and turning for several
seconds. You don’t have to be facing it for it to stun you. Ideally you
should use this on enemies with their backs to you so you can take a leisurely
headshot or backstab. Stunned players can still fire their weapons and STAB at
normal speed, so be careful when approaching from the front. I’ve actually
stabbed an attacker while stunned, and it can’t have been enjoyable for him.

Knoah pointed out that if the stun grenade stuns someone, it returns a tick
like when you hit someone with a bullet. You can use this to tell you if
someone’s in a room. Thanks, Knoah!
———-
Smoke Grenades: Takes about 1-2 seconds to put up a decent-sized cloud of smoke
after hitting the ground. As far as I know you can’t inflict impact damage with
this like you can with the other hand grenades. Despite the passive nature of
the smoke screen, it turns out to be a great stalemate-breaker on
objective-based maps. It can hide your team as they move to an objective, blind
a group of enemies while you fire into their position, or even act as a decoy
to drain enemy explosives (sometimes smoke clouds attract a LOT of enemy frag
grenades). In my experience, teams using smoke grenades on objective maps tend
to make breakthroughs more often than teams that don’t.
———-
Knife: Hit melee to whip out the knife regardless of how impossible it is to
carry your potentially heavy gun in one hand and slash quickly and effectively
with the other. The combat knife one-shot kills any target, unless you’re on a
feedback FF server where the damage you inflict on friendlies goes to you
instead. In that case, you take damage to within one point of death. I’m not
sure on how the game decides to have you stab or slash someone… perhaps you
slash if you’re strafing. Slashing is rather quick, whereas stabbing has a
recovery time of a couple seconds, which can be perilous if you miss your
target but the stab animation happens anyway.
———-
Camouflage: Paint your gun! In some cases having the proper camo on your gun
will actually disguise you better, but don’t sweat this too much because you
can’t change camo in the middle of a round. Mainly you use camo to make your
gun look cool and for prestige. All primary weapons that you have unlocked
automatically come with desert and woodlands camo. The following camos are
unlocked for all weapons by completing their respective Expert Challenges
(headshot quotas):

Digital Camouflage (25 headshots): gray, blocky micropattern camo good in
concrete-filled maps like Countdown, Pipeline and Vacant, as well as Wet Work.

Blue Tiger Camouflage (75 headshots): blue and dark gray tigerstriped camo,
most likely to blend in in Wet Work and the concrete maps.

Gold: Available for the AK-47, Mini-Uzi, M60E4, M1014, and Dragunov when you
complete all Marksman and Expert challenges for every gun in their respective
classes. Shiny and easily noticeable by everyone, but you should be proud to
show it off!

##########

3b. Weapon Attachments

These items can be attached to the specified weapon classes with the exceptions
of the Desert Eagle and MP44. All equipment except for the grenade launcher and
pistol silencer must be unlocked for each individual weapon by completing the
Marksman (kill quota) challenges for that weapon. The kills needed to unlock
the equipment are listed next to the equipment names.

———-
Grenade Launcher (assault rifles) (replaces Tier One perk): The n00b tube!
Equip this attachment with 5 to bring up the grenade reticule, and fire. The
impact grenade won’t arm until a second or two after leaving the barrel, so aim
for at least medium-distance targets. The exception is impact kills. If you can
hit someone up close with an undetonated grenade, they die instantly! The kill
icon is rather amusing. As fun as the noob tube is, there’s a reason it has
that name. Players often get annoyed at those who ALWAYS use the grenade
launcher every spawn. It feels cheap after a while, and besides that it doesn’t
get you weapon experience towards equipment or camo and if you’re decent at
aiming you can usually get more kills by moving around with your gun than by
moving around with your 2-shot noob tube. Use in moderation, for everyone’s
sake.
———-
Silencer (assault rifles 75, SMGs 75, pistols): A silenced weapon suffers a 2+
penalty to range and an unspecified minor penalty to damage, but when fired it
won’t appear on enemy radar. I believe the silencer reduces recoil somewhat as
well. Use if you don’t want to be detected as easily.
———-
Red Dot Sight (assault rifles 25, SMGs 25, LMGs 25, shotguns 25): Replaces your
weapon’s iron sights with a battery-powered laser red dot sight. If you have
trouble lining up shots easily with the iron sights, switch to the red dot. The
laser dot will obscure your target at long range, but it’s bright and easy to
aim quickly. I always use this if I don’t need any other attachment for my
primary weapon.
———-
Grip (LMGs 75, shotguns 75) (replaces Tier One perk): Increases weapon accuracy
by 3 and therefore decreases recoil. A considerable benefit for high-recoil
weapons if you don’t mind losing the Tier One perk; not really necessary for
the relatively low-recoil SAW LMG.
———-
ACOG Scope (assault rifles 150, SMGs 150, LMGs 150, sniper rifles 100):
Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight. A telescopic sight intermediate between the
iron sight/red dot zoom and the sniper scope zoom, with a reticule illuminated
by radioactive tritium. Decreases accuracy by 1 and increases range by 2+. Use
with fairly accurate weapons that you prefer to use at long range if you can’t
line up or reach enemies with the iron/red dot sights.

##########

3c. Support

As you rack up kills, you will be notified of support abilities that you can
use by pressing the 6 key. These should be used whenever you get them, as they
can help your team immensely. You can only have one support ability at a time,
so be careful to use your ability before increasing your streak. If you die,
you keep any support ability you had.
———-
3-kill streak: UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle): scans the map, pinging the
locations of all enemies who don’t have the UAV Jammer perk. Everyone on your
team can see the pings. I believe that one call lasts for 30 seconds, and I
think that multiple calls stack for your team, so two calls made at the same
time give a 60 second scan. Feel free to correct me on this.
———-
5-kill streak: Airstrike: if no jet icons are on the radar map, you may call an
airstrike. The map will appear and you can click where you want the bombs to
fall. The area around your click will be bombarded with three strikes in quick
succession. Try to hold your strike until your team’s UAV is active, and don’t
bomb enemies under solid roofs (it won’t do anything). Missing roofs, such as
those in parts of the building in Vacant, are fair game. This support can
sometimes be more effective at taking out enemies than the helicopter, so make
sure to use it before racking up a larger kill streak. Be extremely careful
when using this on a friendly fire server! Also, consider saving it for
critical offensives or saving efforts in Headquarters, Sabotage, Search and
Destroy, and Domination.
———-
7-kill streak: Helicopter: if no helicopter icon is on the radar map, you can
call an AI helicopter gunship to fly around the map shooting at any enemy it
can find. The chopper has missiles and a minigun with considerable bullet
penetration. Any kill the chopper makes goes towards your kill count. If you’re
dealing with an enemy chopper, shoot at it if your fire won’t give your
position away to the enemy. All bullets that can reach the chopper (i.e. not
shotgun shells) will damage it, and every little bit helps. RPGs usually either
kill choppers or reduce their HP to within a few bullets of damage, but LMGs
also do considerable damage. Some servers have custom settings for the
chopper’s HP; I recall a server where the chopper spawned with only one HP!
Don’t count on something like that, though.

========================================

4. Perks

These are special abilities and equipment that you can attach to your custom
classes. You may choose one from each tier, unless a weapon attachment you have
forbids Tier One perks.

4a. Tier One Perks
———-
C4 x 2: Adds 2 C4 charges to your inventory; equip with the 5 key. When
equipped, you’ll pull out a detonator. Right click to throw a C4 pack, and
left-click to detonate it. When you have something other than the detonator
equipped, double-tap the Use key (default F) to detonate. Good for traps and
hilarious room-clearing attempts.
———-
Special Grenades x 3: Increases the number of flashbang or stun grenades you
have to 3; sorry, no triple smoke.
———-
RPG-7 x 2: Adds two RPG-7s to your inventory; equip with 5. These are intended
for taking out enemies at medium range (or close for the lols), as well as
enemy helicopters. They’re too inaccurate for long-distance attacks, and the
smoke trail will give away your position, so move away after firing.
———-
Claymore x 2 (Unlocked at rank 23 Master Gunnery Sergeant): Adds two claymore
antipersonnel mines to your inventory. A red V will show the detection and
blast direction of the mine; thankfully these are friend-or-foe so your allies
won’t trigger them, friendly fire or not. One shot from any weapon will destroy
it. Place mines so that enemies will have to run towards or away from the V,
not across it! It’s easy to sprint past a claymore, trigger it, and escape
unharmed by running in the right direction.
———-
Frag Grenade x 3 (Unlocked at Rank 41 Colonel): Gives you three frag nades
instead of one. Great for nade spammers, but nobody loves a nade spammer! If
you don’t care, or if you tend to use lots of grenades strategically instead of
chucking them across the map all at once, feel free to use this perk.
———-
Bandolier (Unlocked at Rank 32 Captain): Increases the ammunition for all guns
you carry. Highly recommended for low-ammo guns as noted in the Weapons
section.
———-
Bomb Squad (Unlocked at Rank 14 Staff Sergeant): Nearby enemy C4 and claymores
appear as black and white explosion+skull icons. You can see these through
walls and floors. Take advantage of bullet penetration and your own explosives
to get rid of these hazards, hopefully taking out camping enemies at the same
time. In general, though, this perk should be foregone in favor of more
frequently useful Tier Ones.

##########

4b. Tier Two Perks
———-
Stopping Power: Increases bullet damage for all of your weapons. Recommended to
compensate for weak weapon damage or to tip powerful weapons like the M16 into
the realm of one-shot kills.
———-
Juggernaut: Increases health, so you can take more damage in rapid succession
before biting it. Recommended for ninjas who frequently charge the enemy. If
you shoot an enemy who uses Juggernaut, a red cross symbol will appear under
your crosshairs to tell you that you’ll need to shoot your target a little more
than usual for a kill.
———-
Sleight of Hand (Unlocked at Rank 20 Master Sergeant): Decreases reload time by
up to half depending on the weapon and on whether you’re loading a full clip or
not. Recommended for ninjas, shotguns, LMGs, and bolt-action sniper rifles.
———-
Double Tap (Unlocked at Rank 29 1st Lieutenant): Increases fire rate for your
weapons. I didn’t notice a difference with fast semi-auto weapons like the
pistols, M1014, and G3 because Double Tap increased the fire rate above what I
could achieve by clicking the mouse, so keep in mind your physical limitations
when choosing this perk for fast single-shot weapons. Automatic weapons tend to
empty their clips anywhere from 20% to 30% faster. Recommended for slower
automatic weapons like the AK-47 and M60E4 LMG.
———-
Overkill (Unlocked at Rank 38 Lieutenant Colonel): Allows you to carry two main
weapons. The weapon you choose as your secondary can’t have camouflage, and if
you choose two guns that use the same ammo (like the R700 and M40A3), they will
share ammo between them. Recommended if your primary is a less versatile weapon
like a shotgun or sniper rifle.
———-
UAV Jammer (Unlocked at Rank 11 Sergeant): You don’t show up on enemy UAV
scans, but you still show up if your weapon makes noise. Recommended for
snipers (lone blips on UAV scans are dead giveaways for snipers and afk-ers)
and stealthy players. Combine with silenced weapons to be completely invisible
on radar!
———-
Sonic Boom: Increased explosive damage from your frags, C4, RPGs, and
claymores. Useful if you particularly enjoy using explosives, otherwise use
something else.

##########

4c. Tier Three Perks
———-
Extreme Conditioning: Allows you to sprint about twice as long as normal.
Recommended for ninjas, the impatient, and those who frequently go after bombs
and headquarters in Sabotage and Headquarters respectively.
———-
Steady Aim: Increases hip-fire (not zoomed in) accuracy. Recommended for
run-and-gunners and users of automatic low-accuracy weapons like the LMGs.
———-
Last Stand (Unlocked at Rank 8 Corporal): When fatally wounded, you fall down
and whip out your pistol to try and take out as many enemies as you can before
going under. One point of damage will kill you, and you’ll die anyway in about
15 seconds. You don’t get a Last Stand if an explosion kills you.
———-
Martyrdom (Unlocked at Rank 17 Gunnery Sergeant): When you die, you drop a live
frag grenade with a 2.5-pulse timer on it, hopefully killing at least one
person from beyond the grave. Be aware that some servers will kick you for
using this perk because of how annoying it can get when everyone uses it.
———-
Deep Impact: Your bullets penetrate harder cover. If you want to kill someone
through a wall with an SMG or kill through steel drums with an assault rifle,
use this perk.
———-
Iron Lungs (Unlocked at Rank 26 2nd Lieutenant): When sniping, you can hold
your breath (Shift) for up to 9 seconds instead of 4. It will take you 10
seconds to catch your breath after a 9 second hold, compared to 5 seconds for a
4 second hold. If you snipe, use this to be able to take steady shots more
frequently and to get more time to line up your shots.
———-
Dead Silence (Unlocked at Rank 44 Brigadier General): You make less noise when
moving. Good for stealthy players; add silencers and UAV Jammer for the
ultimate in stealth. Not generally as useful as most other Tier Three perks,
but handy on sparsely populated servers where enemies can actually hear the
sounds you make over the gunfire and explosions.
———-
Eavesdrop (Unlocked at Rank 35 Major): You can listen in on the voice chat of
nearby enemies. This perk is practically useless on the servers I go to, where
there’s either no voice chat or chat consisting entirely of smack talk. Maybe
on serious clan servers it might be useful, but aside from that, avoid this
perk.

Standard service rifle for the U.S. Armed Forces. Fires a 3-round burst. With
the Stopping Power perk, this rifle is pretty much a guaranteed one-burst kill
if you can land all three shots on your target. Definitely not recommended for
the aggressive, run-and-gun player, but one of the deadliest guns in the game
for those who like to hang back a little and engage in medium-long range fire.

Still the most iconic and best-selling assault rifle worldwide. Fires on full
auto. The rifle has a noticeable vertical kick to it, but its recoil
suppressor ensures that the rifle levels again before firing the next shot.
Good for closer-quarters combat than the M16 or M4, but still pulls off good
middle-long distance single shots.

Standard service carbine of the U.S. Armed Forces, preferred weapon of the
Marine Corps. Fires on full-auto. This is one of the most popular guns you’ll
see on most servers, since it can lay a lot of bullets on a target in a very
short amount of time with minimal recoil. On paper it’s not very powerful, but
if you aim it carefully it’ll drop enemies in short order. If you just can’t
seem to draw a bead on moving targets with the burst-fire M16, switch to the M4
and you should get better results. This one does just about everything you’ll
want it to, except for maybe max-range sniping and super-fast ninja-ing.

Battle rifle designed in Germany and Spain; used by NATO and non-NATO
militaries worldwide. CoD4 features a single-shot version of the rifle. Don’t
let the low fire rate score fool you; the rifle will fire about as fast as you
can click your mouse, making Double Tap redundant. The combined accuracy and
damage on this gun make it sort of a mini-sniper rifle limited only by how
sharp your eye is or, if you attach an ACOG, how steady your hand is. With
Stopping Power, two consecutive shots will drop a target. Take advantage of
the accuracy and go for headshots when you can. Not recommended at all for
close quarters, since the poor running accuracy can cripple you. You don’t get
many shots with this gun, so consider bulking your ammo with Bandolier.

The compact version of the G36, a successor to the G3 used in militaries
worldwide. Fires in full-auto. This rifle tends to work better in medium-close
quarters. I tend not to use it because it’s not as lethal close-up as the M4
and not as effective long-range as the M16 or G3. You may want to use Bandolier
to bolster your ammo, because it’s a spray-friendly kind of gun.

This battle rifle has been in active U.S. military service since the Korean War
era. CoD4 gives you the single-shot version. Personally, I despise this rifle
because of the fierce recoil you get after every shot. I’ve never found a
situation where I would prefer it to the G3 or a true sniper rifle. If you try
to use it long range, as it’s supposed to be used, you’ll wish you had the
ability to hold your breath and steady it. In theory, two successive shots
without Stopping Power will drop an enemy, but you’ll have to wait a relatively
long time to wait for the recoil to die off before taking a second shot. I will
be trying the silencer soon to see if it suppresses the M14’s recoil to
something reasonable. Not good for close combat or situations where you can’t
take your time when firing, although in theory you cna fire it as fast as the
G3 (limited by your clicking speed).

One of the first true assault rifles, developed by the German Army during World
War II. Fires in full-auto. This gun is a salute to fans of the Call of Duty
series throughout its WWII phase, where the MP44 was one of the best guns in
the game. In CoD4, this gun is here mainly for nostalgia and if you want to
test your skills with a gun that isn’t quite as good as the AK-47 and doesn’t
have attachments available. Use it the same as the AK.

##########

5b. SMGs (Submachine Guns)

Along with the shotguns, these weapons are the most mobile, so you’ll want to
consider these for any ninja class you want to make. Some of them are almost as
versatile as the assault rifles, and one is a contender for the best gun in the
game. Because of their obvious potential as ninja weapons and because they
become more deadly with lowered recoil, I have recommended the silencer for all
SMGs if you favor a close-combat ninja playstyle.

Another one of the most recognizable guns in video gaming. Very popular
worldwide among militaries, law enforcement agencies, and special forces. Like
all SMGs, it fires in full auto. The combination of stopping power, fire rate,
and accuracy makes this gun another all-purpose weapon in CoD4. Not as good at
long range as the M4, it makes up for it in added effectiveness in close
quarters. If you like to run around a lot and never spend much time taking
long-distance shots, this gun is for you.

A Czech SMG currently in use in Eastern Europe and several African countries.
The accuracy is this gun is impressive, but unfortunately so is the speed at
which you’ll find yourself reloading. 20 bullets per clip is pitifully small
for a gun with this kind of fire rate. You’ll need to be really twitchy to make
the most of the gun’s accuracy within its small effective range. Stopping Power
helps make the gun’s clip last a bit longer, but either way you should be
careful not to spray-and-pray with this one.

A compact version of the famous Israeli machine pistol. This gun is great for
close-quarters spray, and can pick off medium-range enemies if you need it to.
Mainly I see it as a good ninja gun until you get the P90.

An SMG version of the AK-74, the AK-47’s successor. As the most powerful SMG in
the game, this gun is good for pretty much the same function as the Mini-Uzi,
with more attention needed for lining up your shots to compensate for the
slower fire rate.

This Belgian bullpup SMG should be familiar to fans of Ghost in the Shell,
Stargate SG-1, and Battlefield 2. Once you unlock it, it just might become your
favorite weapon. Sometimes I suspect that fully half the people on any given
server I join are using this gun. It combines a high rate of fire, some of the
lowest recoil of any SMG, great accuracy, decent damage, and a huge clip to be
unmatchably lethal in the hands of almost any player. This gun does everything
better than the M4 does except for a very slight increase in recoil and a
moderate drop in effective range. Every time I use it it just feels easier to
rack up kills than with whatever gun I was using before. That said, I tend to
avoid it because it feels like an easy button for the game. So use it for
whatever role you play in a match, but be mindful that only using this gun
(which you’ll be tempted to do) makes you miss out on other fun weapons.

##########

5c. LMGs (Light Machine Guns)

If you like guarding objectives or sitting in one place and spamming bullets
for a long time, these guns are good to consider. They excel at shelling out
lots of damage per bullet and lots of bullets per clip at longer ranges than
the SMGs. Be careful not to reflexively reload these weapons! Even with Sleight
of Hand, it still takes longer to reload these guns than most other weapons in
the game. If you accidentally reload too early, switch to your other weapon to
cancel the reload.

Used by the U.S. and other NATO militaries. Full auto, like all LMGs. Easily
the most accurate LMG under sustained fire, this is the LMG you’d most likely
consider for close encounters. Go for headshots with this one when you can, and
be careful to fire in burst to conserve ammo unless you expect many enemies to
come rushing through the same point.

Soviet LMG currently still in use in Asia and Africa. Use in the Soviet Union
itself was halted by the AK-47-derived RPK, known to Battlefield 2 players.
This is possibly the best LMG overall, compromising between accuracy, damage,
and rate of fire. Use for close encounters, long-distance shots, or massive
fire as you see fit.

U.S. general purpose machine gun, used on vehicle mounts and for medium MG
support. As the heaviest LMG in the game, this technically inflicts the most
damage per bullet, but its slow rate of fire and massive recoil make it my
least favorite LMG by far. You’ll only be able to manage short bursts from this
gun if you want to hit something at significant range, and the slow rate of
fire means that someone with an assault rifle or SMG has an edge on you if you
meet close up. Like the M14 rifle, I can’t think of a situation for this gun
where something else, either a rifle or other LMG, wouldn’t be more useful.

##########

5d. Shotguns

If you really like one-shotting enemies as you ninja your way around the map
and don’t like how long it takes to recover from a knife stab, use a shotgun.
These deal a lot of power per shot while letting you move as quickly as
possible. Beware the short range, though! Be prepared to switch to your
pistol or (if you use Overkill) a longer-range main weapon if your target gets
too far away.

The combat version of the American-made pump-action shotgun. You’re more likely
to get a one-shot kill with this gun than with the M1014, but you’ll need to be
more accurate with your shots and more careful about taking on groups of
enemies. I have yet to test this gun with Double Tap, but I suspect it may give
this gun an edge over the M1014 depending on how much the fire rate increases.
The grip gives a considerable reduction in recoil (possibly 1/3 to 1/2
reduction), so I highly recommend using it if you can forego the Tier 1 perk.

An Italian-made semi-automatic combat shotgun used by the U.S. Armed Forces.
The potentially devastating effectiveness of this gun, known well to
auto-shotty-hating CounterStrike players everywhere, has been reduced by the
use of a 4-shell capacity. You will need to reload this gun constantly when
you’re not firing it, making Sleight of Hand very useful. If you don’t trust
your aim enough to use the W1200 or if you’re playing on heavily populated
servers filled with groups of enemies too large to handle efficiently with
pump-action, choose this shotgun. The grip gives a considerable reduction in
recoil (possibly 1/3 to 1/2 reduction), so I highly recommend using it if you
can do without Bandolier.

##########

5e. Sniper Rifles

BOOM HEADSHOT! These guns are, obviously, for those who prefer very
long-distance kills. The guns are not necessarily more accurate or powerful
than some of the assault rifles, but they maintain accuracy over much longer
ranges and all come with telescopic sights, allowing you to line up shots from
much safer positions. The sniper scope allows you to hold your breath for up to
4 seconds (9 seconds with Iron Lungs perk), which are counted off by loud
heartbeats you can hear. You must recover your breath for up to a second more
than the time you spent holding it before you can hold your breath again, and
the recoil from you sucking in air is sometimes larger than when you fire
without holding your breath. Several of the rifles offered in CoD4 are
semi-automatic and all have an unlockable ACOG scope, making them potentially
useful as high-powered substitutes for the G3 and M14 assault rifles.

Sniping Tips: Be patient, line up your shot and hold your breath before firing,
and remember to change positions after each couple of shots if possible to
avoid being located. This is most important with the slow bolt-action M40A3 and
R700. You don’t have to worry as much about making every shot count with the
semi-auto rifles, but you should still move after each volley. If your class
has a sniper rifle as your primary weapon, your soldier will spawn in a ghillie
suit, a mesh suit covered in foliage which you used in the snipe rlevels in the
single player game. This suit will actually help you blend in to grasses,
especially the grass in the Russian levels like Bloc, Pipeline, Downpour,
Overgrown, and Vacant. Keep this in mind when you choose a hiding spot, and
also keep in mind that you stand out like a wooly sore thumb against metal,
dirt, and concrete.

Reload Time 2.1*/3.8
*Because the bolt action rifles accept individual rounds, you can press fire
while reloading to halt the reloading process and chamber whichever round you
loaded last, in case you need to attack while reloading.

Modified from the Remington 700 hunting rifle and used by the U.S. Marine
Corps. Bolt-action. The Marines took the R700 and gave it lower recoil, a
larger clip, and improved accuracy at the cost of bullet damage. That’s the
tradeoff you have to consider when choosing between this gun and the R700.
Because it’s bolt-action, choosing this gun restricts you to long-range sniping
unless you enjoy using a pistol or using a second main weapon with Overkill.

U.S. Army sniper rifle in active service since the Vietnam Era. The Army has
switched its standard sniper rifle to the R700-based M24, but they also still
use M21s and I guess the makers of CoD4 didn’t want a third R700-based rifle in
the lineup. The M21 is adapted from the M14, so it basically functions as the
M14 was supposed to anyway. The recoil goes from excessive for a battle rifle
(M14) to acceptable for a semi-automatic sniper (M21). With the lowest recoil
of any sniper rifle, this is the one most likely to be modified with an ACOG
and taken to a closer range. Feel free to take several rapid shots at your
enemy to take them down instead of the painstaking one shot, one kill method
required by the bolt-action rifles. You may wish not to hold your breath when
taking several shots in a row, since the recoil is actually increased by taking
a breath-held shot.

Soviet sniper rifle still in active use in the former Soviet nations, the
Middle East, and Asia. This gun has an essentially direct tradeoff with the
M21: the Dragunov has more power, but the M21 has smaller recoil. If you try
pulling off rapid shots with the Dragunov in the same way you would with the
M21, be prepared to compensate for the considerable vertical recoil. Take your
shots more slowly than with the M21 and think twice before carrying it in close
with an ACOG, but otherwise use it in the same way.

The unmodified Remington 700 hunting rifle. It’s larger and more powerful than
the M40A3, but kicks like a bionically augmented mule with the largest recoil
in the game. As a bolt-action sniper rifle and with only 4 bullets per clip,
you should be very discrete about positioning yourself and should follow the
rule of “one shot, one kill” very strictly. If that’s too boring for you, or if
you think you’ll need to engage in close quarters occasionally, either build
your pistol skills or use Overkill with an SMG.

Used by a number of militaries and special forces worldwide for explosive
ordinance disposal and attacks on military hardware (vehicles, buildings,
personnel behind significant cover). Semi-automatic. Just so you know, a .50
caliber round is twice the height of a U.S. dollar bill, or about twice as long
as your pinky finger. Google it if you want to see an actual round. I’m not
sure if the Barrett has the highest penetration of any weapon in the game, but
it would make sense. If you like the ability to kill enemies behind cover
without using the Deep Penetration perk, this gun delivers. It can be thought
of as the semi-auto alternative to the R700 in terms of power, but it’s less
accurate, and you can’t fire an accurate volley of rounds nearly as easily as
you can with the M21. It’s a matter of personal preference whether you choose
this or the R700 for a highest-power sniper rifle, but being semi-auto doesn’t
make this gun much better at closer range due to the recoil, which is a bit
larger than the Dragunov’s. If you want power but prefer to fire more rapidly
at closer range, choose this over the R700. If you love your accuracy and
headshots, choose the R700.

##########

5f. Pistols

The game doesn’t give stats for pistols, so I had to guess based on in-game
descriptions, experience, and my understanding of how the game tends to balance
damage and clip size. Pistols constitute your default secondary weapon if you
aren’t using Overkill; they have the advantage of giving you a quick draw, so
you pull them out faster than with any other weapon. Snipers who forego
Overkill in favor of UAV Jammer or some other Tier 2 Perk will rely on pistols
to take out nearby enemies. They’re also what you’ll be using when your Last
Stand perk activates when you take fatal nonexplosive damage, so a certain
element of conscious choice is necessary. Of course, you can always drop the
pistol in favor of a better weapon you found on the ground… Also, like the
G3, M14, M21, Dragunov, and Barrett, the pistols will fire about fast as you
can click the mouse, so go ahead and let loose if you think you can hit your
target with all the shots.

This Italian-made U.S. Military 9mm pistol is undoubtedly the weakest of the
bunch, but can also fire the most shots before reloading, which is important if
it’s all you have to rely on against multiple enemies until you can find a
better dropped weapon (or in Last Stand). Aim for the head to make the most of
your large clip.

You may remember this pistol from Half-Life 2 and CounterStrike. A favorite of
special forces, the USP gives you decent clip size and good accuracy. Consider
silencing this one, since you’ll retain decent damage while gaining the benefit
of silenced shots.

The second throwback to Call of Duty’s WWII years (but still in active military
and law enforcement service worldwide today), this pistol has a smaller clip
than the USP but better grouping. Decide for yourself which one suits your
needs.

This .50 caliber hand cannon made for Magnum Research is used mainly for
competition and sport. Because of its considerable recoil and small magazine,
real-life militaries and law enforcement tend not to use it, despite what
CounterStrike may lead you to believe. Also, the .50 caliber Action Express
pistol round, only slightly smaller than the average thumb, is overkill for a
human target. Given that, every soldier in the CoD4 world must have bionic
wrists to be able to fire the Deagle as quickly and accurately you can in
multiplayer. Use this pistol if you like to go for pistol kills frequently
instead of using the pistol as a second or last resort. It’s very loud and not
silenceable, so don’t use it if you favor stealth. To account for the recoil,
aim at your target’s middle or lower torso and fire as fast as you can; they
should go down in short order. You’ll get a separate golden Deagle when you hit
rank 55; there’s no performance difference between it and the normal gun.

========================================

6. Miscellaneous

6a. What Not To Complain About

Call of Duty 4 is a GAME. You’re meant to have a good time playing with other
people online, which means that if you’re pissing everyone off by whining
contantly, you’re doing it wrong. Often I notice that whiners are complaining
about everything that they can possibly blame for their poor performance or
their team’s poor performance, including or ommitting their own lack of skill
from case to case. Here’s a list of things that are never worth whining about,
but first:

YOU CAN ALWAYS COMPLAIN AND VENT AND SHOUT AND SCREAM AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE
WITHOUT PUTTING IT UP ON VOICE CHAT OR TEXT CHAT.

-“Cheater!/Hax!/Aimbot!” This gets so common it’s tragic. Look. I’ll give you
some indications of actual cheating in the next section, but just because
someone always seems to be killing you before you can kill them doesn’t
necessarily mean they’re hacking the game or using an aimbot or whatever. If
it’s enabled on your server, watch the killcam after you die and study what
happened from your killer’s perspective. Sometimes it’ll turn out that from his
perspective, less shots hit him that you thought because of how the server
decides to compensate for lag (difference in connection speed). Sometimes an
apparent wallhack will turn out to be someone peeking out from a hole in a
corrugated iron fence or the narrow slit between stairs or two window edges at
an angle. You’ll be able sometimes to see the same slight movement or odd
shape (i.e. you) that they saw before shooting. Keep in mind that this game
has bullet penetration! Also, use the killcam to check your opponent’s perks.
The appearance of Double Tap, Stopping Power, Deep Impact, etc. may explain how
they were able to drop you so quickly. Also remember that enemies can see you
on radar and hear you moving and making Quick Chat (B key default) voice calls
(e.g. “Move Out!”) from a distance, so don’t cry foul instantly after someone
pops out from behind a corner

-“My team sucks!” Maybe you’re right, but you’re not helping them get any
better by just complaining about them. Maybe they’re all inexperienced, in
which case if you’re a veteran you should give them advice via team chat (Y by
default). Maybe they’re not used to the game mode you’re playing. Use
constructive criticism and hopefully something will improve. Also, check your
kill/death ratio every round and keep track of how much you help with
objectives. If YOU’RE not helping your team at all, then fix yourself before
complaining about others.

-“Player X sucks!” Come on now. For all you know they might have just had a bad
round or a bad day. Even if they really aren’t good at CoD4, you’re just being
an asshole by rubbing their face in it. See the advice for “My team sucks” if
Player X is on your team or even if they aren’t. They deserve a chance to learn
to be good at multiplayer.

-“Nade spammers/n00b tubers suck and have no skill or tactics!” This is
sometimes true. Unfortunately, you can’t stop them if the server has enough of
them. If you can’t stand it, the best thing to do is switch servers or come
back later. If it’s just a couple of noob tubers, chances are they’re not
making a big dent in the scoreboard or in the map objectives if that’s all they
do, so don’t worry so much about it. It’s worth it to try asking persistent
noob tubers to stop, but don’t be surprised if nothing happens.

-“LAG LAG LAG” So your connection sucks or someone else’s connection sucks.
There’s probably nothing the players can do about it unless they work for the
broadband/phone company. Complaining about lag solves nothing and creates no
useful dialogue, so switch servers to one with a better ping or avoid the enemy
with the lousy ping whom you never seem to be able to shoot.

##########

6b. What to Complain About

There are a number of legitimate complaints that you should make if the
situation arises. These are things that need to be taken care of to improve
general enjoyment of the game.

-REAL cheating: One of the easiest ways to spot a cheater is through his/her
killcam or through his/her kills on the kill list that scrolls up the screen.
Example: I was playing on Downpour once when this one guy started racking up
headshots like nobody’s business (at least 10 in rapid succession). Every one
of his shots was a headshot, and in the killcam I could see him just spraying a
group of enemies with a horizontal sweep and shooting every single one in the
head. This is highly unlikely to happen without an aimbot. Point something
like this out on general chat (T key default) and ask if an admin is spectating
or playing. If enough people call out the aimbotter, he’ll either leave or get
booted shortly. Rarely, someone will be stupid enough to use an aimbot that
declares every headshot he makes in the general chat (this happened once on
Bloc!). Separate example: If you shoot someone with a volley you KNOW to be
100% lethal (like a full burst form the M4 with Stopping Power enabled) and
you’re ABSOLUTELY SURE that you landed all three shots by the sound of the
impact ticks, then go ahead and accuse the player of using an invincibility
hack, although I’ve never encountered this. In general, get really good,
preferably repeated, evidence of cheating before making a declaration.

-“My team isn’t listening to my advice” If you’ve been giving your team good
advice on how to improve their play and they’re still sucking, then you may be
able to get them to listen by insisting (MILDLY) that they listen to you on
team chat. Don’t press the issue too much; some people just don’t listen. If
there’s no hope, switch servers or note the problem players and try to not be
on their team from now on.

-“Stop bothering me” If someone’s being truly offensive or just really annoying
over voice or text chat, tell them to knock it off as nicely as possible. They
probably won’t listen if you tell them to “shut the fuck up.” Even if you ask
nicely, they may not shut up, especially if they’re talking with their clan
members, but it’s worth a try. In that case, either bear with them, mute your
speakers/headphones if it’s voice chat, or switch servers.

========================================

7. Acknowledgements

Thanks to Infinity Ward for a successful leap to the modern era for the CoD
series. Also, thanks to Wikipedia for some of the weapon information. Thanks to
gamefaqs.com for hosting the guides that inspired me to make my own.